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PrintMedia & Culture of Peace (2000-2001)
Project Reports
Afghanistan Visit Report 1994 (by: the Afghanistan Working Group at McMaster University and Queen's University, Canada):
Summary
Purpose of fact-finding trip to Southwest Zone, Afghanistan
Between November 15 and December 11, 1994, four health professionals representing the Centre for International Health (McMaster University) and International Centre for the Advancement of Community ? Based Rehabilitation (Queen's University) visited Herat, Afghanistan and key offices of UN and NGO agencies in Pakistan on a fact-finding mission (see Appendix). The purposes of the mission were to assess the local needs and resources in health, disability and the environment, and to identify possible partnerships and collaborative initiatives in three areas: the physical rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, the education of community health workers and health professionals, and the problem of land mines and the restoration of the environment for habitation and agriculture activities. The desired outcome was that appropriate proposals would be drawn up for submission to donors for funding for initiatives in partnership with local NGOs and health related institutions. A document entitled "Project Proposal: Disability in Children and Adults Due to War Injuries" (CIH) provides situation analysis and justification for the reconnaissance trip and the two centres' involvement in capacity-building initiatives.
General Situation
The present situation in Afghanistan results from the protracted war against the Communist government in Kabul, the subsequent invasion by the Soviet army in 1979 and resistance by local mujihadeen factions which led to the collapse of the communist regime in 1992. Political stability and disarmament of local fighting units has been established in the past two years in the south-western region, and residents can carry out their daily lives without fear, though a 10:00 PM curfew is in effect in Herat. The provincial government of Herat has authority over five provinces that comprise the South West Zone of Afghanistan. Attention is being directed to the re-establishment of electricity, water, waste disposal and rebuilding. In the past year there has been a large influx of returnees mainly from Iran (where 1.5 million Afghans have been residing); extensive landmined areas and the need for clearance has impeded the pace of resettlement.
Status of Rehabilitation
UNDP has been working with the government as well as the opposition throughout the years before 1992. A new project has been approved which is a comprehensive, integrated sequel to the Employment Support Service Project (1990-present) funded by UNDP and implemented by ILO, and the Disabled Afghans Program (DAP) (1991-1994), executed by UNDP/OPS and largely funded by Sweden and UNOCHA. (The Project Brief for the Program Review Committee Meeting, May, 1994. Project - AFG/93/003 Comprehensive Disabled Afghans Program). Sweden and UNOCHA have been engaged in providing orthopaedic devices, physiotherapy, and blind training to disabled Afghans since 1991. Other UN agencies and NGOs have been assisting disabled Afghans. UNHCR has funded a number of income generating projects among refugees. WHO was the main funding source for an orthopaedic workshop in Kabul and the International Committee for the Red Cross has contributed extensively to orthopaedic workshop services in Mazar and Herat, and a workshop for component production in Kabul. Sandy Gall Afghanistan Appeal (SGAA) operates two orthopaedic workshops, with a current capacity of 55 prostheses monthly. Handicap International set up three small workshops now run by other NGOs. Kuwaiti Red Crescent Society (KRCS) and Afghan Association of Bicyclists for Rehabilitation and Recreation (AABRAR) are running rehabilitation services in Jalalabad. A number of NGOs, including the National Association of Disabled Afghans (NADA), Afghan Disabled Society (ADS), International Assistance Mission (IAM), Solidarite Afghanistan SOS/Belgium, Apprenticeship Scheme for Young Afghans (ASYAR), Norwegian Project Office (NPO), Rural Rehabilitation Association for Afghanistan (RRAA), Afghan Agency for War Disabled and Victims (AAWDV), Sayed Jamuluddin Afghan Welfare Organization (SJAWO) and Oeknden Vennee are running activities at different levels ranging from advocacy work to production of prostheses in support of rehabilitation of disabled.
400-500 injuries caused by land mines were admitted to Herat Hospital in 1993, though this figure clearly underestimates the incidence. Cases often present days or weeks after the injury with complications. Following surgery, and medical management, those with amputations are referred for the fitting of prostheses.
These efforts have been woefully inadequate to meet the needs of the tens of thousands of disabled Afghans and the problems have reached a proportion that requires a significant level of assistance from the international community.
Status of the Medical School
The Medical School in Herat, which opened in 1991, currently has 234 students enrolled in the first three years of the six year program. Medical training is taking place in the face of severe constraints. There is a severe lack of teaching resources and materials; teaching consists of dictating lecture materials that are laboriously written down by students. The library consists of four shelves of books, some in Persian, but most in English, which most students can't read easily. The Dean and faculty members clearly recognized the need for curriculum reform, but they frankly acknowledged that this would be a major undertaking since any innovation would require both material and training inputs. At this time they do not know how they are going to be able to offer the fourth year of the program, as they do not have the teaching materials required.
UNDP/OPS Comprehensive Disabled Afghans Program (CDAP) 1995?1996
The CDAP is a 2 year program approved to begin January 1, 1995, under the sponsorship of UNDP/OPS ILO, WHO, UNESCO, Radda Barnen, with four Afghan Ministries: the Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled, the Provincial Public Health Office, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The responsibility for overall execution will be assigned to UNDP/OPS. An international expert will be recruited for the post of CDAP manager with responsibility for project management. Radda Barnen will make available its Training Unit to strengthen staff training. Short term consultancies will be provided by ILO, UNESCO, WHO. Project implementation will be subcontracted to selected implementing NGOs, one for each region, with regional headquarters in Balkh, Takhar, Wardak, Herat and Kandahar (implementing NGOs are SCA in Taleqan and Wardak; SERVE in Balkh; and the Provincial Public Health Office in Herat). The subcontracting NGO will, in turn, employ a manager in each region responsible for all aspects of field implementation. The implementing NGOs will, in turn, co-ordinate the activities of the non-implementing NGOs, which will include SGAA, ILO, WHO, and Radda Barnen. At the field level, coordination will be enhanced by the Regional project management, which will maintain communication linkages with regional, provincial and district councils (shuras) to promote their participation. Decision-making at the shura level will be encouraged. A Project Advisory Committee with representatives of NGOs who are regional implementing partners, UNDP/OPS, ILO, UNESCO and WHO, representatives from organizations of people with disabilities, and Government representatives will meet annually and review the program and provide advice on work plans.
The DAP approach will be used: a social animator identifies a person with a disability in the community and reports it to the supervisor; the person with a disability is linked with the social council in the community where specific needs of the person with disability are identified. Rehabilitation help is provided for children to go to school and for adults to learn working skills, and, for those who graduate from the income generating training, a loan is given to assist them to start their own businesses. Nemorious Denour, advisor to DAP and acting manager of CDAP, expressed an interest in the collaboration of CIH/ICACBR in: 1) training, 2) technology and physiotherapy resources, and, 3) program evaluation
Proposed AWG Initiatives and Action Steps
Herat University and Medical Faculty:
1. Link Herat Faculty of Medicine into the Network of Community Oriented Educational Institutions in Health Sciences.
2. Specific training opportunities for Herat Faculty members at Queens/McMaster designed to improve medical education and teaching resources.
3. Development of teaching materials
- preparation of teaching audiotapes (in Persian) and related learning materials on specific topics: rehabilitation; epidemiology; gaps in curriculum, or new innovations.
4. Canadians to visit Herat to teach faculty and students
5. Undertake donation drive ? including textbooks, histology slides; teaching equipment.
6. Develop joint Medical Faculty/Public Health Method Unit for the purpose of capacity-building in applied epidemiology and community health research.
Community Based Rehabilitation:
1. Develop instructional materials for the teaching of CBR at the professional level in collaboration with local NGO.
2. Assist ongoing training in CBR to local workers by instituting short field visits by professionals, in collaboration with local NGO.
3. Support/initiate vocational training of disabled people specifically - overcoming marginalization and attitudinal barriers.
4. Assist with development of local rehabilitation technology production.
5. Achieve at a community level the integration of physical rehabilitation and environmental rehabilitation? as a Health Initiative as Peace Initiative (HIPI? Spiral Garden model).
6. Evaluate the CDAP program. The idea of overall evaluation to be undertaken by an outside party was supported by Mr. Wardak of SCA as well as by Nemorious Denour.
Environment:
1. Initiate or enhance one or more environmental rehabilitation projects in Afghanistan in recently demined areas with Canadian donors and/or partners.
2. Project would aim to provide opportunities for people with disabilities in particular, supporting the CBR strategy outlined above.
3. Facilitate production of an audiovisual documentary on the impact of landmines and other opportunities for advocacy on the landmine issue.
Agencies and Bodies with whom members of AWG spoke:
Health and Rehabilitation
In Herat:
Regional Government
Provincial Office of Martyrs and Disabled
Herat University and Medical Faculty
Provincial Public Health Office/Herat General Hospital
Herat Hospital Physiotherapy Department
Persons with Disabilities
Medecins du Monde (MDM)
World Health Organization (WHO)
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
International Assistance Mission (IAM)
In Peshawar:
UNDP/OPS, Disabled Afghan Project (DAP)
Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA)
Serving Emergency Relief & Vocational Enterprises (SERVE)
Sandy Gall's Afghanistan Appeal (SGAA)
Radda Barnen (Swedish Save The Children Fund)
Handicap International (HI) [telephone conversation]
Afghan Disabled Society (ADS)
Other:
Save the Children Fund (SCF)
United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
Demining and Environmental NGOs:
In Herat:
Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR)
UNICEF ? Rural Rehabilitation
In Peshawar:
Afghan Development Association (ADA)
Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) and Community Information & Epidemiological Technology (CIET-International
Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR)
Avicen/ IbnSina
Other:
John Huizinga, Canadian with international expertise in tree-planting
Henry Koch, Horticulturalist, University of Guelph
Cambodian War Amputees Rehabilitation Society
Coordinating Organization
Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR)
REPORT ON AFGHANISTAN WORKSHOP & VISITS
(March 14 - 22, 1996) (by: Dr. Seddiq Weera, HEALTH REACH Programme, Centre for Peace Studies and Centre for International Health McMaster University, Canada)
1.0. INTRODUCTION:
This report will cover the highlights from the "Afghanistan Workshop and Visits" in seven sections:
- Back ground information about the Afghan working group, the visits to Afghanistan and the idea of a workshop on Afghanistan in Canada
- Meetings with the officials of the Faculty of Health Sciences and a group of students
- The two day Workshop at McMaster University and summary results
- Meetings with the Afghan community in Toronto
- Meetings in Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Kingston and summary results
- Visit of the Hugh McMillan Rehabilitation Center in Toronto
- Action summary and project ideas (next steps)
The directory of participants and reference documents will be attached as annexes.
2.0. MEETING AT MCMASTER UNIVERSITY (March 13):
2.1. Meetings with Faculty:
Drs. A. Omer Gebreel, Head of WHO-Afghanistan and S. M. Amin Fatimie, former Minister of Public Health Afghanistan; and Mr. Fazel Karim Fazel, Director, Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation met with Dr. Rathbone, Vice President, Faculty of Health Sciences from 10:15 am to 11:45. Drs. Vic Neufeld and Seddiq Weera of the Centre for International Health were also present at the meeting. Information was exchanged on Faculty of Health Sciences, Problem Based Learning, public health, WHO-Afghanistan, mine situation, and medical and health education in Afghanistan. Dr. Fatimie stated that "health sector/professionals in Afghanistan are neutral and based on humanity, and Afghanistan needs constructive activities to replace warring activities". Dr. Gebreel informed the group on the declining interest of donors so called "donors fatigue", "brain drain", and how Afghan professors lives on a minimal (US$5 a month, which will feed three people only for three days, according to Afghan standards).
2.2. Meeting with Students:
At 12:00pm there was a meeting with a group of 9 nursing, nurse practitioner, medical, and arts and sciences, and biochemistry students. The students presented several aspects of problem based learning and medical curriculum. A case study of a 12 years old child with juvenile diabetes including and analysis of biological, psycho-social, and population aspects of the disease presented by a medical students which was very interesting to the guests and was followed by discussions of the topic. Discussions included admission procedure, student evaluation, horizontal and block electives (for information on participants see annex 2).
3.0. THE AFGHANISTAN WORKSHOP
3.1. Thursday March 14:
Dr. Vic Neufeld, Director, Center for International Health opened the meeting and highlighted the concept and practice of partnership among universities, NGOs, government and communities. He also stated the expected outcome of the workshop to be:
- better understanding of partners of each other
- program action and a number of small project
- clearer idea of resources, commitment, expertise, and funding
3.1.1. Introductory Presentations:
(for further information on presenters see annex 1)
Dr. S. M. Amin Fatimie spoke about public health status in Afghanistan, "Basic Minimum Needs" as a strategy to improve health through socio-economic development of the communities based on the priorities set by the communities through local councils, primary health care, and decentralization of health sector.
Dr. A. Omer Gebreel, Country Representative, WHO-Afghanistan spoke about WHO's close working relationship with the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, Basic Minimum Needs as a unique approach toward achieving health for all in war zones, Human investment, and that there is no difference between emergency relief and development ("development continuum").
Dr. Shah. W. Siddiqi, Director, IbnSina/Avicen spoke about his agency whose services cover more than half of the country, provide immunization for children and mothers and primary health care services. He emphasized the need to renew medical curricula, and the importance of students involvement in community health projects. Some examples of the community health projects for the above purpose were mentioned to be health education and community awareness, campaign for disease control, disease prevention, and promotion and health surveys.
Mr. Fazel Karim Fazel, Director, Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation, informed the audience that "every hour one Afghan is maimed or killed by anti-personnel land mine. 43% of casualties happen among nomads. Income generating training for women and people with disability are crucial. If there were alternative employment opportunities, most of those who carry gun will shift their focus from war and destruction to rehabilitation and development.
Dr. I. Majid Seraj, Professor at Loma Linda University highlighted the importance of functional rehabilitation of medical education in Afghanistan. He emphasized the need to at least one prototype and quality medical school to train future leaders (in medicine and health) in war/post-war Afghanistan. Medicine should be taught in English. Afghans are not sensitive to English language
Dr. Gordon Hadly, Professor, Loma Linda University supported the idea of rehabilitation of medical education and added that proper model professors should be trained and training in English is a need and should be initiated.
Dr. Robbie Chase, Consultant, HEALTH REACH stated that Afghans feels that they are ignored by the rest of the world. Initiation of the Afghanistan Working Group over two years ago was an important endeavour. The fact finding mission in November 1994 of Afghanistan by McMaster-Queen's team was a good start.
Susan Deane of Council of Canadian with Disabilities mentioned that disabled people should not be taken away from the community to an institution. Disabled people should have organization of their own and have the opportunity to study, to work, to represent themselves, and to be involved.
Seddiq Weera, International Fellow, Center for International Health presented the project "Health as Bridge to Peace". Cardinal features of the project will include contribution of Afghan students to improvement of health and well-being of vulnerable populations and to the rehabilitation of people with disabilities. Training of students, faculty and public health personnel in health information analysis and Community-based Rehabilitation (will also include people with disabilities) and in the concept and application of "Health Initiatives as Peace Initiatives".
Graeme MacQueen, Director, Center for Peace Studies identified Afghanistan is one of the several "post CNN countries" (countries not covered by international media any more). There is a great potential in health initiatives to contribute to peace building and reconciliation. Inter-regional and international connection of health professionals in Afghanistan will exemplify the neutral rule and potential of health professionals in national reconciliation.
3.1.2. Summary Results:
a\ Education and Training:
1) The Centre for International Health to take the initiative putting together a directory/database of Afghan health and other professionals in Ontario. The directory will be used to recruit volunteers to take part in rehabilitation of their devastated country.
2) Exploring fellowships for Afghan physicians to study in Canada. Fellowships should not be limited to doctors only. Joint selection criteria for selection of the candidates to be developed by both Canadian partner and WHO and the Ministry of Public Health Afghanistan). In country, in service education should be preferred to fellowships as it is feasible.
4) Canadian students who do electives in Afghanistan should represent a range of disciplines.
5) Dr. Gebreel asked McMaster to help with providing and sending scientific and medical journals to Afghanistan.
6) WHO-Afghanistan will update McMaster and Loma Linda about the priority needs around medical education
7) Rehabilitation of Medical Education should include:
- training and education (preferably in country)
- faculty restructuring
- curriculum modification (curriculum should be based on the needs in the community)
- English language as a priority of curriculum (Marseilles University, France already has provided books and material in English)
- provision of resource material need
- Electronic information and communication technology to be part of the upgrading and rehabilitation
- Students from other parts of the world (i.e. Canada) to do electives in Afghanistan
b\ Organization Building:
1) Afghan Medical Association to be initiated in Afghanistan facilitated by WHO-Afghanistan and the Ministry of Public Health.
c\ Coordination:
1) Coordination of local disability organizations to form a national association of people with disabilities to be facilitated by WHO and the Ministry of Public Health.
2) To linking existing Afghan medical health associations in Canada and the United States as well as the forthcoming national medical associations for exchange of information and possible collaborations.
3) May 1996 the workshop on methodology and curriculum of medical education in Afghanistan will be coordinated by WHO-Afghanistan. Representatives of McMaster, Queen's and Loma Linda Universities from
North America might be invited too. One of the proposed objectives will be to coordinate the effort of Western Universities in rehabilitation of medical schools in Afghanistan.
d\ Approaches and Strategies:
1) Local Shuras are the vehicles for implementing "Basic Minimum Need" and peace building.
2) Peace can be enforced through development. The "development continuum" to be promoted.
3) Students to be involved in community-based projects and peace-building to be incorporated in to the projects.
4) Projects to contribute to peace building activities
5) Indigenous Afghans managing and carrying out mine clearance was considered a unique feature of mine clearance activities in Afghanistan
e\ Possible Community-based Partnership Projects:
1) Income Generating Projects for people with disability.
2) "Basic Minimum Needs" to be integrated with CBR.
3) Involvement of students and health workers in community-based projects.
3.2. Friday March 15
At the "Land mine and rehabilitation of victims" session the following groups were represented & initiatives offered:
Mines Action Canada (Celina Tuttle); info sharing and communications, can learn from other NGO & international initiatives.
Afghan Association of Ontario; offer possible outreach, public & government education, fund raising & human resource pool (various sectors & professions), interest in prosthetics and training.
ICACBR (Will Boyce); training regarding CBR.
ICRC (Chris Giannou); support for integrated approach from evacuation to reintegration, have hospitals in country, information regarding locally producible below- knee prosthesis for below $125 at Trupp Health Products London, Ontario, and Niagara Rehabilitation in St. Cattharines.
CARE-Canada (Chris Cushing); global strategy paper being written, working in 46 mined countries, active in Angola, want to partner with specialists in mine clearance due to need in order to continue development especially regarding water-related infrastructure.
OMAR (Fazel); 2nd largest indigenous Afghan NGO working in training mine clearance personnel, mine clearance and awareness, training the trainers, income-generating projects integrating disabled.
Truppe Health Care Products (Walter Truppe); capable of producing various prosthetics, also training are interested in training local people in manufacturing and producing affordable prostheses for developing countries.
Black Box Automation (Malcolm Black); remote controls for mine clearance bulldozers, lots of interest shown & feedback given regarding suitability/adaptability.
CCD/DPI/MLPD (Susan Deane); promoting integration of disabled from start, experience in income generating projects & women's issues, implementation and evaluation.
Others participating included; Dan Pugliese, Marcus Powlowski (MD finishing law degree), Robbie Chase.
Summary Discussions and Results:
It was noted that McMaster's role includes information exchange and coordination of efforts. Also assessment, capacity building, training, connecting health students & professionals to the community & NGOs.
Mr. Fazel and Mr. Black will be in touch and keep Afghanistan in mind as a pilot testing field for new/improved mine clearance technology.
Environmental rehabilitation was discussed.
Terry Long & CIDC were mentioned as Canadian demining & training capacity. It was noted that R&D of detection methods/technology needed.
Inclusion/linkage with the disabled and the expatriate Afghan community in the mine clearance, awareness, and rehabilitation initiatives was repeatedly emphasized.
Modest, practical start needed. The need for securing funding was highlighted. May be close fit with WHO BMN/CBR programs. OMAR & WHO can provide info re appropriate community selection.
4.0. MEETING AT "THE AFGHAN ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO", TORONTO (March 16):
In the Afternoon of March 16, Mr. Fazel, Drs. Fatimie, Seraj, Gebreel, Hadly, Weera, and Haidar met with a large group of Afghans at the Afghan Association of Ontario in Toronto. The visitors were welcomed by the leaders of the Association and Afghan scholars. The meeting was officially opened by recitation of Holy Quran. During the first half of the meeting the Afghan Association of Ontario and its Reconstruction and Development Committee were introduced. Later concerns of Afghans in Canada in respect to situation in Afghanistan, the history of McMaster based "the Afghanistan Working Group" and the objectives of the Afghanistan Workshop were presented. Afghan visitors spoke about the WHO activities, public health situation, child health and immunization, and land mine situation, and the importance of rehabilitation of medical education in Afghanistan. A reception was also arranged, after which there was an interesting interaction among the audience and the presenters. (For the list of those who spoke see annex 3.).
Summary Discussions and Results:
The Afghan Association, Reconstruction and Development Committee to help with putting together a directory of Afghan health professional and recruiting volunteers Afghan professionals to work in Afghanistan. The travel expenses of the Afghan volunteers will be covered by WHO-Afghanistan.
Possibility of the Afghan Association to become partner in the income generating training for people with disabilities in Afghanistan to be pursued.
The Afghan Association to be kept informed of the proceedings of the Afghanistan Workshop and subsequent visits.
Suggestion was made that a wider group of Afghan health professionals to be involved in such event as the workshop.
5.0. DISABILITY ORGANIZATIONS IN WINNIPEG (May 18 - 19):
The following organizations were visited:
- Council of Canadians with Disabilities:
- Manitoba League of People with Disabilities:
- Disabled People International
- Independent Living Center:
- 1010 Saint Clair Housing Complex: This center provides subsidized housing for people with disability on the provincial level. Disabled pay 25% of their income as rent. The housing has units designed for people with various levels and types of disabilities and a wide range of technology from basic to very high is used to help disabled be as independent as they can.
- Biochemistry Laboratory, University of Manitoba
The most interesting outcome of the visit to Winnipeg was the strong message made by the organizations about integration of people with disabilities. The following quotes reflect the message:
To insure that Canadian disabled have voice of their own instead of others speaking on behalf of them. Independence of people with disabilities is the central issue. The intent of the organizations is to help disabled have as much control over their lives and the environment as possible . Disabled people should be part of any planning or decision making which affect them. Disabled people should be part of the community not burden on their family. Disabled people are not to be improved, they should have the power to improve their lives. "We do not care for people, we gave them choices and directions, we work with them not for them". People have hidden strengths and potentials which can be nurtured.
Council of Canadians with Disability (CCD): is a federal level organization who organize people with disabilities to influence their government. Disabled people learn from each other and utilize the learning in their lives. CCD does not do any rehabilitation or disability prevention. CCD is concerned about the stage after rehabilitation of persons with disability when they return to the community and face challenges of real life.
Meetings involved several individuals including Laurie Beachell, National Coordinator, and David Martin from CCD; Pat Sisco, Board Director, Maureen Colgan, Senior Coordinator, and Allan Simpson, Program Director from Independent Living Center; Henry Enne, Director, Disabled People International, ....
Disabled People International (DPI): is the international body which assist disabled to organize themselves (through seminars), become members of DPI, and setting up income generating training.
Summary Discussions and Results:
- war gives clout to persons with disabilities and we should build on these
- Seminars done by DPI in Afghanistan for Afghan Disabled about organization building and leadership development includes possible partnership activities
- WHO-Afghanistan jointly with the Public Health Ministry (Health Sector) in Afghanistan will explore possibilities of coordinating the existing disability organizations and supporting a national body
- WHO-Afghanistan and the Public Health Ministry will organize disabled to celebrate December 3 as an international day of disability
- Disabled in Afghanistan to support the peace movements through
- DPI will send a letter to the United Nations about December 3 as "the International Disability Day", which will be supported by a letter from Afghan Ministry of Health and WHO-Afghanistan
- Mine clearance and immunization are strategies to prevent disabilities
- OMAR to take the lead in income generating training for people with disabilities and explore closer working partnership with DPI. The Afghan Association of Ontario will be a potential partner to work together with DPI and OMAR
- Rotary International in Polio eradication may support IbnSina's activities
6.0. MEETINGS AT CIDA AND THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, OTTAWA (March 20, 1996):
So called brown bag hour and a half meeting was attended by nine people representing policy branch, health branch, strategic planning, International humanitarian assistance, and regional programs in Asia of CIDA (for the full list of participants see annex 4).
Ellen Wright introduced Vic Neufeld and praised HEALTH REACH for "the marvelous job" in its initiative in assessment and improving health and well-being of children in Former Yugoslavia, Sri lanka, and Ghaza Strip. Vic Neufeld introduced HEALTH REACH, the Afghanistan Working Group, and the guests. Later Mr. Fazel Karim Fazel and Dr. S. W. Siddiqi briefly presented children health status and land mine situation in Afghanistan respectively. Drs. A. O. Gebreel, S. M. A. Fatimie summarized general situation and health sector in Afghanistan and expressed sincere interest in collaboration with Canadian Universities and disability organizations..
A highlight of the most interesting questions and discussion is as follows:
There is no question mark in front of the problems in Afghanistan but there is a big one in front of the effective way to tackle them. There is no logical and practical separation line between emergency relief and development. Peace will come if we invest more on development and give gunmen the opportunity of alternative employment. The driving forces for the current "military prostitution" are poverty and no income. You (Afghans) are telling us (CIDA) that there will not be peace unless we invest more in development and we tell you that we will not support long-term development until peace and stability comes in Afghanistan.
At the Department of Foreign Affairs:
A meeting was held with Mark MacDowell, policy advisor, Afghanistan and Pakistan Desk and Bryan Burton, Coordinator for South Asia (Mark attended the brown bag meeting in CIDA as well). Below is the summary of comments and views expressed by DFAIT:
Afghanistan fell off the communication map. The problem did not go away but the attention went away. We support the UN solution as the only one which also condemn the foreign interference. Percy Abols predecessor of Mark joined the UN mission and will return late March. Germany, Japan and France will follow Canada's footsteps by sending individuals to join the UN group". Bryan is interested to see the project proposals about Afghanistan and would like to be kept informed about the progress of Canadian initiative in Afghanistan. DFAIT will be trying to coordinate their policy with CIDA.
Information on the health sector and WHO Afghanistan and "Health as a Bridge to Peace" was shared with the representatives of DFAIT. Generally speaking Bryan and Mark were extremely supportive of the Canadian initiative in Afghanistan.
7.0. MEETING AT ICACBR, QUEENS UNIVERSITY, KINGSTON (March 21):
Participants: Lorna Jean Edmunds, ICACBR Administrative Officer, Will Boyce, professor of Rehabilitation. Alec Brians a pediatrician who is interested in peace and is member of Physicians for Global Survival and John ... an Master's students also attended the meeting.
The International Center for the Advancement of Community Based Rehabilitation (ICACBR), a CIDA funded project of the Center for Excellence, has 80 partners internationally and within Canada. ICACBR has demonstration projects in the Eastern Europe, and Asia. Its activities range from core research to training, clinical work, documentation and evaluation. ICACBR works on micro (individual) to macro (policy) levels.
Summary Discussions and Results:
Possibilities of Afghan health professionals, funded by WHO, coming to Canada for training in epidemiology and CBR was discussed. Suggestion was made that the selection criteria for fellowship candidates to be developed jointly by WHO-Afghanistan, Ministry of Public Health, and the Afghanistan Working Group in Canada. ICACBR is interested in the evaluation of Comprehensive Disabled Afghan Project (this was discussed with the acting manager of the project Nemo Denour in 1994).
7.0. VISIT OF THE HUGH MCMILLIAN REHABILITATION CENTER, TORONTO:
Participants: Penny Parnes, Vice President, Education; Karen Oster, Director, Community Early Child and Family Support Programs.
After a warm welcome and a short introductory meeting, Penny gave a tour of the center. The visitors admired the high technology facilities available for children with disabilities. The facility included the workshops, research facility where artificial limbs, mobility aid, and variety of technologically adjusted facilities and equipment such as adjusted car seats, driving aids (to enable persons with disability to drive a car who well not be able to do so otherwise) and soon.
8.0. ACTION SUMMARY AND PROJECT IDEAS (FUTURE STEPS):
8.1. Afghanistan Working Group:
1. McMaster University in collaboration with "the Afghan Association of Ontario", will put together a directory/database of Afghan health professionals in Ontario. This list will primarily include those who are interested in working in Afghanistan and volunteering their time. The directory will be shared with WHO-Afghanistan and the Afghan Health Sector.
2. McMaster University in collaboration with OMAR and The Afghan Association of Ontario, will put together proposals to be submitted to Canada Fund at the Canadian High Commission, Islamabad, Pakistan. The projects will be of emergency relief nature to serve people with disabilities, women and children. The project involving persons with disabilities will be planned and undertaken in collaboration with CCD and DPI.
3. McMaster University will explore possibility of arranging for Afghan physicians to do Master's degree in Design, Measurement and evaluation at McMaster. Also will be considered, need based arrangements for three to six months training at McMaster University. Individuals interested in rehabilitation, Community-Based Rehabilitation in particular, will need similar arrangements with ICACBR.
4. Canadian students, who do electives in Afghanistan should represent other disciplines too.
5. McMaster University to explore sending scientific literature to Afghanistan and WHO and Afghan Health Sector to provide information on the priority needs to scientific literature. This applies as well to ICACBR at Queen's University.
8.2. WHO-Afghanistan:
6. Will look into inviting representatives of McMaster and Loma Linda Universities to the upcoming workshop on Methodology and Curriculum Development to be held in Jalalabad, Afghanistan in May 1996. Incidentally, Will Boyce will be in India the last week of May and might be able to attend the workshop too.
7. In collaboration with McMaster University, will allocate the Afghans recruited from Canada to serve as volunteers inside Afghanistan. There travel, accommodation, and food expenses will be covered and their security guaranteed by WHO-Afghanistan.
8. In collaboration with ICACBR, will further explore to integrate possibilities of Community Based Rehabilitation with Basic Minimum Needs project. Training of health personnel and medical and nursing students in CBR and evaluation of Comprehensive Disabled Afghan Project are other areas of collaborative work between WHO-Afghanistan and ICACBR.
9. In collaboration with the Afghan Ministry of Public Health, will begin to facilitate coordination of existing disability organization to form a national body.
10. In collaboration with CCD and DPI, will explore possibility of organizing seminars for people with disabilities on organization building, leadership development, self-esteem, peer support etc. This is suppose to strengthen number 4.
11. In collaboration with the Afghan Ministry/ies of Public Health, will begin establishing the Afghan Medical Association in Afghanistan.
8.3. Loma Linda University:
12. In collaboration with WHO-Afghanistan and McMaster University will explore coordinated work to rehabilitate one medical school as a prototype. Learning English, among other things, will be a focus area.
8.4. IbnSina/Avicen:
13. Will explore possibility of Afghan-France-Canada collaborative projects with its partner agencies and institution in France.
14. Will cooperate with and facilitate involvement of students (including medical, nursing) in IbnSina projects.
15. In collaboration with AWG, put together proposals related to maternal child health and submit them to Canada Fund.
1998-2000
PEACE WORKSHOP IN PESHAWAR (MARCH 2000) Facilitator: Dr. Seddiq Weera; Partners: Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) and BBC-Education Section
Actual report to come.
Feedback from the audience:
"I have experienced a dramatic improvement in my relationships at home and with some neighbors. I stopped arguing and fighting with our angry driver; instead I am trying to understand what is behind his rudeness. My heart and soul is praying for you (the workshop facilitator)"
[Ms. N.A., 03 March, 2000, Peshawar]
"Through out the Afghan history there seems to have been something wrong emotionally which has contributed to long-lasting wars. We raise our children with anger and emotional complexes we do not listen to them as we ought to"
[Mrs. N.W., 03 March, 2000, Peshawar]
"Even though, we have not produced manuals on psychosocial healing, yet peace has come to our hearts and minds which we can transfer to others. Our lives have been full of a single tone of hopelessness and sadness. Now we see the light of hope that one day, the sun of peace and unity will shine on our beloved Afghanistan"
[Ms. F.P., 03 March, 2000, Peshawar]
"Knowing that problems can be solved has given me hope and relief. Prior to this workshop, we could not remember to think; it seemed impossible to think creatively. Now, I am convinced that we can bring changes in our individual and collective behaviours as suggested in Islamic learning"
[Mr. H.R., 03 March, 2000, Peshawar]
"I have noticed changes in myself and in my behaviour. I had not known how important it was to express one's feeling. I have more hope for future now"
[Mr. A.S., 03 March, 2000, Peshawar]
"Awareness on how to deal with grief came so handy for me like bread to a hungry. We have been grieving my older brother's recent loss. What I learned in this workshop has helped my family and me. We are grateful to you (the workshop facilitator)"
[Mr. K.S., 03 March, 2000, Peshawar]
"We have been traumatized and affected by 21 years of war. Now, we have learned how to rescue ourselves and then salvage our society. We have renewed hope for peace. Even though, the war supporters are stronger than the peace workers the people are backing efforts to bring peace. Before everything else we need peace and unity and we need to address the prejudice."
[Mr. M.T., 03 March, 2000, Peshawar]
MEDIA AND PEACE EDUCATION IN AFGHANISTAN (INTERIM REPORT - April 09, 2001) (By: Seddiq Weera and Graeme MacQueenCenter for Peace Studies, McMaster University, Canada)
1.0 OVERVIEW
Afghans are caught in a destructive cycle. The 23-years of armed conflict and its direct and indirect consequences, in addition to many other catastrophes, has produced ethnic polarization, religious prejudice, hatred and psychological and social difficulties (hopelessness, anger, grief, hostility, lost trust, rigid thinking, feelings of inferiority, difficulties in relationships and so on) in the population. The induced psychosocial conditions in turn make it extremely difficult for Afghans to contribute fully to the peaceful transformation of their conflicts. Afghan children, raised in a deprived, traumatized and divided society, are in need of education that helps them deal with their losses, anger, prejudice, stress and interpersonal problems. Afghan intellectuals and politicians need help to minimize the impact of prejudice, hatred and anger on their views and positions and to build a common vision for national and regional cooperation.
The project's goal is to help Afghans begin to find their way out of this destructive cycle. Training politicians, intellectuals and community leaders in the conflict transformation model has been a central component of the project's workshop activities to date. This has included the immediate application of the model to the development of action plans for peace building among the various parties involved. Longer-term educational activities have also been initiated, with a view to preparing the minds of Afghan children and their teachers (and parents) for peaceful living.
2.0 METHODOLOGY
We have used an educational and, more specifically, a "train-the-trainer" approach aimed at the following: Afghan intellectuals, religious and political leaders, members of political parties and factions, writers, journalists and teachers; and a variety of Afghans and non-Afghans active in NGOs working in Afghanistan. The basic ideas about peace-building and psychosocial approaches to peaceful living are transmitted through workshops and written material (originally prepared in English but soon to be translated) with a view to empowering participants to spread them through their workshops and apply them in their own work and day-to-day living.
3.0 RESULTS
Results to this date are presented in two sections; review of objectives and separate reports on workshops and meeting. Overall, written and oral evaluations from participants of peace education workshops (Appendices One and Two) and from individuals who reviewed the peace manual and stories are encouraging.
3.1 Review of project objectives:
Objectives Actual Results to Date
- To develop a peace education curriculum, including materials for teachers and teacher-trainers as well as for ages 10-15 Afghan school children. The Peace Manual has been written and is being reviewed by several organizations, after which it will be revised, translated into both Dari and Pashto languages, field-tested and made widely available. Feedback thus far suggests the Manual may be useful for a broad spectrum of literate adults, not just teachers. A Teacher/User's Guide will be produced to accompany the Manual with instructions and exercises to assist teachers to convert the information in the Manual into classroom activities. Partner: The partner is the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, but a number of other agencies have offered to help with field- testing and have requested final copies for their use.
- To develop eight storybooks for Afghan children with clear peace and reconciliation messages. The production part of this work has exceeded expectations, while distribution has encountered challenges. (i) A team consisting of an Afghan physician, two Canadian child mental health specialists, a Canadian Asian scholar and a Canadian playwright has created 16 stories, twice the number planned. The stories are currently being reviewed by a wide variety of Afghan organizations and will be revised in light of suggestions received. (ii) The BBC has been replaced in these activities by other NGOs involved in peace education. The BBC's withdrawal is due to reduced funding, shortage of experienced personnel and a desire to emphasize less didactic material. Formal offers of partnership in field-testing, distribution and final use of the stories have come from Care-Afghanistan, the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children Fund Sweden (formerly Radda Barnen), the Social Mobilization Branch of DACAAR, Cooperation Center for Afghanistan (CCA), Society of Afghan Women, Research and Advisory Council of Afghanistan (RACA) and Afghan Health and Development Services (AHDA). UNICEF-Afghanistan, Save the Children (US and UK), and BEFARE are other agencies that are reviewing the documents and exploring the use of these books in their schools and education.
- To provide workshops on "peace journalism" to Afghan writers and journalists. A Peace Journalism workshop offered on Feb. 23, 2001 in Peshawar, was attended by 85 individuals, including Afghan intellectuals, writers and journalists. Partners: The Afghan University, TRANSCEND
- To strengthen capacities of the organizations that work for peace in Afghanistan. (i) A workshop in Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation offered on Feb. 19-22, 2001 in Peshawar was attended by approximately 100 Afghan intellectuals, political leaders, university professors, community leaders, NGO-representatives and writers (85 male and 15 female). Partners: Afghan University and TRANSCEND. (ii) A daylong workshop on the contribution of NGOs to peace building offered on Feb. 24, 2001 in Peshawar was attended by 32 individuals from 25 organizations. Partners: Cooperation for Peace and Unity (CPAU), Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) and TRANSCEND. (iii) Extensive meetings with Afghan peace organizations were held in Peshawar both in Oct. 12-24, 2000, during Dr. Weera's Field Trip to Pakistan and from February 8 to 28, 2001 during the team's Field Trip to Pakistan. (iv) Extensive meetings with Afghans involved in the current major peace initiatives for Afghanistan, as well as with peace-building NGOs and the office of the UN Special Envoy, the Canadian High Commission and representatives of the former King of Afghanistan, were held in Peshawar, Islamabad and Rome during the February, 2001 field visit.
- To develop a psychosocial model of peace education and conflict transformation, to document its impact and to disseminate the results for further applications. Qualitative feedback about project activities has been documented. Field-testing of the storybooks and peace Manual will be important steps in accomplishing this objective. Training given by Dr. Weera in March 1999 and fall of 2000 were followed by seminars and workshops on February 16 and 27, 2001 in Peshawar. Participants were groups of 21 female teachers from Society of Afghan Women (led by Ms. Gailani) and 17 men and women from 8 NGOs (CPAU, ACBAR, Afghan's Muslim Women Organization, Sanayee Institute of Education and Learning, Cooperation Center for Afghanistan, Agency for Rehabilitation and Energy Conservation in Afghanistan, Afghan Development Agency, DACAAR). Feedback from participants was extremely positive. Partners: Society of Afghan Women and CPAU.
3.2 Peace Education Workshops
3.2.1 Conflict Transformations, Reconciliation And Peace Journalism Workshop (February 19-23, 2001, Peshawar, Pakistan)
Partners: Afghan University and TRANSCEND
Goals of the workshop were explicit in the opening statements by Seddiq Weera on the first day of the workshop:
"This workshop is going to be a learning and analytical exercise with the aim of preparing the minds of Afghans for a peaceful future. Afghans need to bring deep changes in their minds in order to allow them 1) to honestly acknowledge the rights of all ethnic groups and parties, small or big; 2) to appreciate the good services and qualities of all groups, 3) to be critical of their own and others mistakes and failures, 4) to develop the courage to take responsibility for their failures and weaknesses and try to prevent repeating them in the future. Afghans (political groups and individuals) need to be sincere in what they say and do and not play games with each other anymore."
The daily number of participants varied slightly, the invitation list included 20% executive members of political parties (and organizations), 30% key Afghans from NGOs, 15% professors from Afghan University and 35% community leaders. Day one was used for discussing non-Afghan conflicts. Day two and half of day-three were spent discussing recent and current Afghan conflicts and their peaceful transcendence. Participants, divided into five discussion groups, listed over 30 conflicts. Detailed discussion took place around four major conflicts: i) conflict between Taliban and Northern Alliance, ii) conflict among regional and international players, iii) conflict of position between Mujahideen and Taliban over the issue of gender and iv) conflict between mediators and conflicting parties. Over seventy important issues arose from discussions (see Appendix One 'Issues Raised During the Workshop'). The second half of day three and first half of day four were spent on reconciliation, prejudice and hatred reduction as well in drafting the workshop resolution . Day five was used for a lecture on peace journalism. This day had to be cut down to a half day because of an unforeseen opportunity to meet the Human Rights and Humanitarian Assistance and Political branches of the UN-Afghanistan in Islamabad.
Written evaluations of this workshop indicate a high level of satisfaction and in many cases immediate self-reported changes in attitude and positions (see Appendix Two 'Written evaluation by participants'). Constructive suggestions were made for improvement of the workshop (see Appendix Two)
3.2.2 Workshops on 'Psychosocial Approaches to Peace-building' (February 16 and February 27, Peshawar, Pakistan)
Partners: Society of Afghan Women and CPAU
Two half-day workshops were held for two diverse groups on hatred, prejudice, hostility, anger, grief and interpersonal problem solving. Participants in the first workshop were 21 female teachers of the girl school supported by the Society of Afghan Women (including Mrs. Fatana Gailani, President of the latter). Written and oral feedback was extremely encouraging and included suggestions on wider delivery of such training to more Afghans (see Appendix Three). The second workshop on February 27 was attended by 17 men and women from nine Afghan and international NGOs. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. All participants, with no exception, suggested more workshops and the use of mass media to benefit more Afghans (see Appendix Three)
4.0 PEACE-RELATED MEETINGS
4.1 Meeting with the Canadian High Commissioner in Islamabad (February 26, 2001):
His Excellency the High Commissioner, First Secretary Development, Dr. Evan Due, and Director, CIDA Program Support Unit, Mr. Peter Berkeley were pleased with the progress of the project especially the workshops. As an immediate follow-up step, the idea of 'national consultation to assist peace groups to coordinate and develop a common vision' was supported. His Excellency offered assistance with issues such as helping to organize meetings with the Taliban for the McMaster group. Although, the challenges facing the Afghan University were acknowledged, partnership with this university was seen as worthwhile. As far as working in refugee camps was concerned the McMaster team was encouraged to work in partnership with Care Afghanistan, BEFARE to combine emergency aid with some kind of "public health psychiatry." Similar work was suggested in partnership with Aschiana (an Afghan NGO supporting working street children) in Kabul. Discussions on delivery mechanisms for peace education favored radio, training workshops, seminars and written media but not production of video.
4.2 Meeting with the UN Special Mission for Afghanistan (UNSMA):
Professor Galtung met with Mr. Francisco Vendrel, chair of UNSMA and Special Envoy of the UN-Secretary General on February 23 in Islamabad. Mr. Vendrel expressed satisfaction with the workshop and asked to be kept informed of follow-up activities. Dr. Seddiq Weera and Dr. Graeme MacQueen met with Mr. Thomas Ruttig, Political Affairs Officer at UNSMA on March 26. Mr. Ruttig expressed interest in coordination and cooperation in the future projects of McMaster's Center for Peace Studies in Afghanistan.
4.3 Meetings in Rome, Italy (March 03, 2001):
Meetings took place with Dr. Zulmai Rassoul, Private Secretary to His Majesty the former King of Afghanistan and Mr. Mustapha Zahir, Private Advisor to His Majesty. Representative of the former king updated Dr. Weera on the process of working towards an 'Emergency Loya Jirga' (grand assembly) as a mechanism to let people decide on their future. Dr. Weera provided an update on the trip and workshops in Peshawar. Representatives of the former king supported McMaster University's effort to prepare the minds of Afghans for a peaceful future and to conduct a national consultation.
ISSUES RAISED DURING THE Feb. 19-23 WORKSHOP:
1.0 Diagnosis of the Afghan problem:
1.1 Political:
· External interferences interfacing with selfish and stubborn struggles for power by Afghan parties ("those who have power do not want to give it up and those who do not want to get it")
· Parties and warring factions have no freedom; foreign decisions are imposed on them
· Alliance of Afghan groups with other countries
· Import of foreign ideologies (i.e., communism etc.)
· Use of ethnic and religious provocations to engage people, especially youth, in fighting
1.2 Peace-making/building related:
· Fragmented peace efforts and lack of a strong national peace basis/core group (e.g., peace initiatives each attempt to gain international support for their own groups instead of a common goal for the country)
· Lack of sufficient representation of all Afghans in the peace processes
· Lack of a national leadership
1.3 Development-related:
· Extremes of poverty, lack of employment, non-functioning infrastructures and low rates of literacy in the country
· Presence of weapons, abundance of military training and expertise compounded by lack of employment
1.4 Attitude and identity related:
· Ethnic divisions and prejudice particularly among warring groups and even in those who work for peace
· Exaggerated blames about the opponents and inadequate acceptance of facts about self and others
· False justification of fighting and wrongly calling it Jihad (opportunistic interpretation of Islam)
· Lack of forgiveness, compromise and creativity on parts of political parties and warring factions
1.5 International factors:
· Current Afghan conflict is imposed from outside on Afghans; if it were not for the regional geopolitics, Afghans would have been able to resolve their differences
· Mediators, diplomats and UN representatives listen more to those who are involved in fighting than those who work for peace
· Afghans lost trust in big powers and because of them in the UN; some Afghans even think that the UN (in their political efforts) has been a failure
· 6+2 is a flawed platform and a wasted diplomacy
· Lack of sensitive international media and lobbying groups to educate the world about the humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan and the indifference of the world
2.0 Therapy/Solution options:
2.1 Need for a strong peace basis:
· Continue workshops like this inside and outside Afghanistan to promote futuristic attitude, empathy and forgiveness, assist groups to coordinate all peace processes/initiatives and build a common vision for Afghanistan
· Convert the workshops to a process of 'National Consultation and Dialogue' to assist Afghan groups to establish a strong 'National Peace Basis' ("we believe that for the political and military illness that Afghanistan is suffering from, Professor Galtung and his McMaster team seem to have a promising prescription and we would like to see persistent follow-up")
· A strong peace basis once formed should continue dialogues and mediating role inside the country and with the regional players and seek international recognition
· Through peace education, Afghans groups and warring factions can be helped to free themselves from outsiders
· Religious leaders and scholars, through a decree, should begin and lead a Jihad against war
· Women should be mobilized not to permit their men to take part in fighting
· Establish a Center for Studies of Peace and National Unity at the Afghan University as a place for peace research and peace education (organizing peace seminars, workshops, conferences, roundtable discussions and provide public education through media and publish newspapers, magazines etc)
· To expose Taliban and more religious groups in peace workshops and 'National Consultation and Dialogue' bring in peace experts who are Islamic scholars
· Encourage parties to give up on partisanship and become more honest and realistic about themselves and others
· Bring people's attention to national interests of the country, territorial integrity and national unity instead of imported (emotional) mottos
· Work toward development of a peace platform that accommodates legitimate rights of all ethnic, religious and political groups (current fighting for some is a struggle for survival because they see no hope for themselves in alternatives)
2.2 Need for enhancing mediation capacities:
· An expert Afghan mediating-group that has constant support from McMaster team and Professor Galtung will need to emerge from the proposed national peace basis (it will take super-ordinary dialogues to convince warring factions)
· These mediators need to be well-trained in listening, negotiations and facilitating dialogues and receive constant advice from Johan Galtung
· Mediators need to be honest, caring, patient, persistent, transparent, politically impartial and acceptable by all parties and should include women
· Unlike the United Nations, these mediators aught to include non-warring factions and various levels of the community in negotiations (there are many good Afghans with good ideas and caring hearts who have no resources but can be organized to become peace troops)
· Peace initiators and mediators should not seek power for themselves
2.3 Need for improving peace processes:
· We need to find out why the major peace processes have failed and incorporate the lessons learned from such an evaluation into future peace-making and peace-building work (our guesses about causes of these failure include lack of transparency, lack of expertise in mediation, narrow focus, lack of persistence and inadequate consultation with the people)
2.4 Need for restoration of trust and unity among Afghans:
· Peace education similar to this workshop is needed to convert hatred and prejudice to understanding, empathy and trust (this can be achieved by using a wide range of means, e.g., radio and TV to reach more people in short-time)
· Training course on national unity and peace need to be developed and incorporated into school and university curricula
2.5 A Peace Area inside Afghanistan:
· A peace area protected by national army or international forces (UN and OIC) will be a place inside Afghanistan where reconstruction, peace-building, national unity and prosperity can be demonstrated
· Choose Kabul and surrounding areas or one of the secondary cities where peace activities such as international peace conference and Loya Jirga can take place (under supervision of Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Syria and Iraq, Norway and Sweden)
· The peace area should become a prototype in terms of effective and efficient administration, security, employment, unity and development.
2.6 Comments about Loya Jirga:
· Loya Jirga (Islamic Loya Jirga, Islamic Jirga, Shura-e-Hal-o-Aqed) was mentioned and proposed 128 times during the five-days as a mechanism to bring peace and let people decide on their future
· It was emphasized that the Loya Jirga be really representative of all ethnic, religious, political, professional and intellectual groups in the country (there are bio-data that can be used to identify key representative from Afghan community)
· Leaders of the Loya Jirga process need to be inclusive and fair (while criticizing Mujahideen and Talibans' mistakes and failures, they need to recognize the good services of these groups)
· Afghans need to support those who can lead peace processes and have not taken part in crimes, as national leaders
· Parties and factions need to allow the silent majority have a voice through a mechanism such as the Loya Jirga (they should seek legal legitimacy versus military victory)
· Loya Jirga should be followed by a national parliament (with fair representation of all Afghans) and an interim government formed of capable Afghans which can prepare the context for peaceful election
· Formation of a representative national army, with the support and supervision of the United Nations and OIC, should be given a priority
· The Rome process should aim for distribution of government offices based on qualifications and size of ethnic populations; equal responsibilities of all ethnic groups to serve in the army and police; equal rights to education for all ethnic groups; provincial budget should reflect income of that province; equal right to vote or elect for all; free press based on Islamic principles; finding proper education and employment for Jihad worriers
2.7 Concerns about Loya Jirga:
· "Now that Loya Jirga has turned into a business why not think of general election as an alternative" (another alternative mentioned was a national parliament with seats based on proportions of ethnic populations)
· Promoters of Loya Jirga want the power for themselves
· The Loya Jirga supporters are too slow and their platform is not clear
2.8 Importance of reconstruction and economic development:
· Immediate undertaking of reconstruction is key to stability
· Economic development and reconstruction are vital to sustainable peace and stability
· More Afghans from abroad need to be organized and recruited to assist Afghans and help in reconstruction
· Some rich Islamic and Arabic countries should especially be encouraged to support immediate reconstructions.
2.9 Need for regional and international cooperation:
· Afghans should not to be a threat to any country and should expect the same from others
· Regional countries and Afghanistan, through dialogue and cooperation, should find a legal mechanism through which legitimate rights and interests of all can be accommodated and their legitimate concerns can be addressed (an international conference can be a means to achieve regional consensus and to convert military and geopolitical competitions to regional cooperation)
· Regional and international supporters of Afghan warring factions should become reasonable in their goals
· Arms embargo should be imposed on all groups, monitored and enforced (OIC, Scandinavian countries and Canada and the United Nations and European Community can help with this)
· Global indifference should be recognized as a contributing factor to continued interference of regional players in Afghanistan
· 6+2 should be terminated or transformed to a useful body
· Compensation should be asked from countries that took part or contributed to destructions and damages in Afghanistan (Russia should be held accountable to pay compensation for what their ancestor, the Soviet Union, committed in Afghanistan)
3.0 Discussions on gender:
· All five discussion-groups unanimously agreed that maltreatment of women is due to misinterpretation and misuse of Islam and perhaps non-conducive circumstances (Islam is a religion of moderation; according to Islam "the best of all humans in Islam, regardless of gender, are those who avoid wrongdoing" (Holly Quran's versus); women in Islam have the right to education, employment, trade, business and vote. Hijab itself is an indicator of women's need to work outside home; historically, women in Afghanistan have played a strong mediating role and have enjoyed special respect, for example, in many murder cases mediation of women has led to forgiveness; as a wife, then mother, woman in Islam is seen as a cornerstone of a family
· Women had been oppressed even before the communist coup of 1978; women's social and economic role has not been a priority for any regime in Afghanistan (invasion of foreign ideas may have been the main reason)
· Mujahideen had never formed a stable government (their chance may have been sabotaged), however there were many avoidable mistakes like establishing fifteen party governments in and around Kabul, forming power-seeking alliances with former regimes and neighboring countries. The time of "Commander-cracy" (versus People-cracy) was a period of serious crises such as forced marriages and lack of security for women.
· Emergence of Taliban may have been a reaction to what was happening in the country during Mujahideen. Lives of rural women have not been affected by Taliban's restriction. However, in urban areas the situation is an overreaction to anarchy and moral problems in the society. Mujahideen compared to Taliban had higher proportions of educated personnel and were more moderate and liberal when it came to women's right to education and employment. However, Mujahideen's level of moderation still was extremely different from role of women in the Western culture. As far as labor is concerned, in Islam men are most proper for men-type jobs and women for woman-type.
4.0 Discussions of reconciliation:
· Continue educational workshops such as this one as means of a) preparing political parties, groups and individuals for empathy and reconciliation; b) assisting groups and individuals to accept their failures and take responsibility, and c) avoid repeating their hostility-creating mistakes.
· Peace in one's heart and mind is an essential step towards diminishing hatred and achieving trust and peace in relationships.
· Reconciliation on two levels of national and regional are essential to heal the wounds, promote understanding and bring hostilities to a closure through:
- Resolving the root causes of tension in the Afghan society,
- Rebuilding what has been destroyed (joint reconstruction by warring groups in the proposed Peace Area was suggested as an example of reconciliation in practice)
- Provision of compensation to groups and individuals, and
- Extension of apologies and granting of forgiveness
Project Title: MEDIA AND PEACE EDUCATION IN AFGHANISTAN
Country/Region: Pakistan/Aghanistan
Organization: Centre for Peace Studies, McMaster University, TSH-726, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L9
Implementing Partners: Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA), Education Section, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Sanayee Institute for Education and Learning (SIEAL) and Care-Afghanistan
Proposed CIDA's Duration: 12 months, extended to 16
Date of proposal: July 25, 2000
Duration/Extensions:
- Original duration: 12 months (August 2000 to August 2001)
- Time extension (with no additional funds): Four months (September 01 to December 9, 2001)
- Deadline for final report: March 31, 2002
Beneficiaries: Afghan School Children, Teachers, Parents; Afghan Political and Community Leaders
1.0 Executive Summary
The project "Media and Peace Education in Afghanistan" has addressed, through written materials and workshops, the need for psychological and social healing, conflict transformation, and a reduction of hatred and prejudice among Afghans. Formulated in response to requests by Afghans, this project has produced written material on psychosocial rehabilitation for elementary and secondary school children, their teachers and parents, and has provided sophisticated, on-site training in conflict transformation, reconciliation and prejudice reduction to Afghan political and community leaders and journalists. Because of logistical difficulties, cost overruns and political crisis in Afghanistan the production of written materials is not yet complete, but additional funds for completion have recently been secured.
2.0 Project description
2.1 Overview:
Afghans have been affected by more than two decades of warfare, violence, forced confinements, undemocratic and inhumane treatment. During these two decades most Afghans have been also been deprived, through human agency and natural disaster, of basic needs and rights such as access to food, drinking water, health services, education and employment. In addition, they have suffered from the emotional burdens of major losses and separations, as well as constant fear, hopelessness, anger and hatred. As anger, blame, and accusations have increased, empathy and respect for mutual rights have diminished, while crude dichotomies of good versus evil and right versus wrong have become common in the minds of all hostile groups. When this project began in August 2000, Afghanistan presented itself as a classic case of a deep-rooted and vicious cycle of violence.
During the extension period of this project (September to December 2001), while our team attempted to complete the work we had set out to do, the attack on the World Trade Center and the ensuing war against Taliban and al-Qaeda forces produced further violence, and, while creating new opportunities for Afghans, also put enormous numbers of them at risk. Despite the presence of multinational peacekeeping and security forces formally committed to the improvement of civil life and general living conditions in Afghanistan, it will not be easy for Afghans to break the 23-year cycle of violence. Afghan children, raised in deprivation and trauma, and Afghan leaders and intellectuals, trained in war and competition, will need help if they are to create a cohesive society capable of solving the enormous problems that remain within Afghanistan and in the relations between Afghanistan and its neighbours. There is agreement among our Afghan partners that the work we began in this project is as urgently needed now as it was when we started, and the opportunity for this work to bring positive results, given our good relations with the current Afghan government, is probably better than it was previously.
2.2 Purpose of the project and expected outcome:
The goal of this project was to give Afghans crucial assistance in addressing the cycle of violence. The project has aimed to educate Afghan teachers, intellectuals and politicians in specific skills needed to solve conflicts and achieve reconciliation, and in the relation of these skills to psychological states. The project has aimed to assist children and caregivers to recover from the psychosocial trap of violence, in which grief, trauma and desire for revenge lead to further violence.
Expected outcomes for children, their teachers and parents are enhanced abilities to cope with major losses, separations, fear, depression and anger and hatred; and enhanced skills in resolving conflicts peacefully.
Expected outcomes for politicians and intellectuals are improved relationships with domestic groups (political, military, ethnic and religious) and with neighboring states, through enhanced empathy (replacing demonization) and the adoption of more peaceful approaches for the resolution of conflicts.
The project has been innovative in several ways.
(a) It has drawn on, and combined, the fields of peace education and psychology/psychiatry. This creative confluence is one of the distinctive elements in McMaster's approach, and we have used it in other conflict zones (Sri Lanka, Croatia). Our general approach comes under the heading of "peace through health." Peace through health (PtH) has been developed by a variety of agencies, universities and intellectuals over the past twenty years, and our Centre for Peace Studies at McMaster has played an important role in this development. In order to do this work in Afghanistan the project brought together a diverse group of experts in the psychological well-being of children, as well as a number of peace studies teachers and scholars, including an internationally distinguished peace scholar and practitioner (Professor Johan Galtung).
(b) By adding writers and a professional artist to an already interdisciplinary team the project has created a unique set of storybooks for children. Although at least two NGOs have previously produced storybooks to help Afghan children during wartime, the present project has dealt with topics that were previously not addressed. To the best of our knowledge, no equivalent narrative package exists anywhere.
(c) Other innovative aspects of the project derive from the quality of Afghan experience the project team was able to utilize. One of the project Co-Directors is an Afghan-Canadian who has both a medical and research background and an extensive and in-depth knowledge of Afghan society, as well as credibility among key Afghans in Afghanistan and abroad. Partnerships with NGOs and with the Afghan University in Peshawar provided access and acceptability of the project team to Afghans.
2.3 Activities:
Production and distribution of storybooks and peace manual (objectives, activities, results)
The objective of the first activity was to create a series of storybooks for children and a manual for teachers and parents. Both sets of materials were aimed at improving abilities to cope with loss, fear, depression, anger and hatred, and to develop skills in resolving conflicts peacefully. Within the first five months of the project, 16 stories for children and a peace manual for teachers and parents were developed. The peace manual is an elaboration on the themes addressed in storybooks. Topics include recognizing misperceptions caused by chronic hostilities, hatred and prejudice; anger, and healthy ways of dealing with it; grief and coping with major losses; problem-solving communication, managing stressful situations, and reconciliation. In the seventh month of the project face validity of the stories and the peace manual were examined by obtaining feedback from Afghan and non-Afghan experts in education for Afghan children. Based on suggestions and comments from these field experts the stories and manual were revised. In June 2001, a senior Afghan artist was hired to draw sample sketches and illustrations for the first storybook. Due to financial constraints, production of illustrations was temporarily halted. By August 2001, translation of the stories and the peace manual into Pashto and Dari was well advanced. In November 2001, an agreement was made with Sanayee Institute for Education and Learning (SIEAL) to organize editing, typing into Afghan languages, completion of illustrations, field-testing and mass distribution of the translated versions of the storybooks and peace manual. SIEAL will begin doing so as soon as the Center for Peace Studies can transfer the funds recently acquired for this purpose.
Steps entailed by the production of the storybooks and peace manual include: identifying themes and key messages, deciding on story characters and contexts, producing drafts, reviewing drafts through group reading and discussion, identifying messages in each page of text suitable for illustration, having the illustrator draw sketches, selecting proper sketches, testing the text for face-validity in the field, translating the text into two Afghan languages, proofreading the translations, procuring expert review of the translations, field-testing the final draft, and, eventually, carrying out mass production and dissemination. Face-validity was tested by circulating the English version of the stories and peace manual to a wide range of non-governmental organizations such as BBC-Education Section, Care-Afghanistan, Save the Children Sweden, UNICEF-Afghanistan, Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, Save the Children UK and US, Council for Cooperation in Afghanistan, Cooperation for Afghan Peace and Unity, Sanayee Institute for Education and Learning, the Afghan University in Peshawar, International Rescue Committee and a number of Afghan experts with background in education. The stories and peace manual were revised following comments and suggestions by the reviewing organizations and individuals.
Since production, distribution and evaluation of the final written materials has not yet occurred, it is impossible to discuss final results. It is our hope that the impact of the storybooks and peace manual on the dynamic of the conflicts and tensions on inter-personal and inter-group levels (including baseline and post-exposure assessments) will be measured, as a separate project, once these documents are published and used. Feedback thus far from Afghan and non-Afghan experts in education and the well-being of children has been overwhelmingly positive. Field-testing of the storybooks and the peace manual will provide preliminary feedback from a small group of potential users. Completion of these documents, which was delayed due to shortage in funds, resumed in February, 2002 thanks to Physicians for Global Survival, which raised $27,000 for the expenses of completion and production.
The stories are already being used to help Canadians understand the situation of Afghans. Team members have carried out public readings of the stories to an estimated 500 Canadians, have reached several hundred more by use of stories in mailings, and have received a request to put one of the stories on a web-site. The CBC is currently adapting one of the stories for broadcast as a radio play.
Peace education workshops and meetings (objectives, activities, results)
The workshops were aimed at demonstrating that the conflicts Afghans have been experiencing are not intractable and that the discourse of mutual blame and the psychology of retaliation are not inevitable. We expected to see more peaceful approaches to conflicts result from these workshops.
During the 16-month course of this project 15 workshops (1 to 5 days in length) were held for NGO personnel, women teachers, tribal leaders, politicians, journalists and intellectuals in Peshawar and Islamabad, Pakistan.
Important peace-related meetings were held in Peshawar and Islamabad in Pakistan, Rome in Italy, Washington in the U.S., and Ottawa and Toronto in Canada.
Key workshops and consultations include the following:
Conflict Transformation, Reconciliation And Peace Journalism Workshop (February 19-23, 2001, Peshawar, Pakistan)
The daily number of participants varied slightly but was approximately 100. The invitation list included 20% executive members of political parties (and organizations), 30% key Afghans from NGOs, 15% professors from Afghan University and 35% community leaders. Day one was used for discussing non-Afghan conflicts. Day two and half of day three were spent discussing recent and current Afghan conflicts and their peaceful transcendence. Participants, divided into five discussion groups, listed over 30 conflicts. Detailed discussion took place around four major conflicts: (i) conflict between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance, (ii) conflict among regional and international players, (iii) conflict of position between Mujahideen and Taliban over the issue of gender and (iv) conflict between mediators and conflicting parties. Over 70 important issues arose from discussions. The second half of day three and first half of day four were spent on reconciliation, prejudice and hatred reduction as well in drafting the workshop resolution. Day five was used for a lecture on peace journalism. This workshop, unfortunately, had to be reduced to a half day because of an unforeseen opportunity to meet the Human Rights and Humanitarian Assistance and Political branches of UN-Afghanistan in Islamabad.
Written evaluations of this workshop indicate a high level of satisfaction and in many cases immediate self-reported changes in attitude. Constructive suggestions were made for improvement of the workshop.
Workshops on "Psychosocial Approaches to Peace-building" (February 16 and February 27, Peshawar, Pakistan)
Two half-day workshops were held for two diverse groups on hatred, prejudice, hostility, anger, grief and interpersonal problem solving. Participants in the first workshop were 21 female teachers of the girl school supported by the Society of Afghan Women (including Mrs. Fatana Gailani, President of the latter organization). Written and oral feedback was extremely encouraging and included suggestions on wider delivery of such training to more Afghans. The second workshop on February 27 was attended by 17 men and women from nine Afghan and international NGOs. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. All participants, with no exception, suggested more workshops and the use of mass media to benefit more Afghans.
Meeting with the Canadian High Commissioner in Islamabad (February 26, 2001)
His Excellency the High Commissioner, Mr. Ferry de Kerckhove, First Secretary Development, Dr. Evan Due, and Director, CIDA Program Support Unit, Mr. Peter Berkeley expressed satisfaction with the progress of the project, especially the workshops. As an immediate follow-up step, the idea of "national consultation to assist peace groups to coordinate and develop a common vision" was supported. His Excellency offered assistance with issues such as helping to organize meetings with the Taliban for the McMaster group. Although the challenges facing the Afghan University were acknowledged, partnership with this university was seen as worthwhile. As far as working in refugee camps was concerned, the McMaster team was encouraged to work in partnership with Care Afghanistan to combine emergency aid with some kind of "public health psychiatry." Similar work was suggested in partnership with Aschiana (an Afghan NGO supporting working street children) in Kabul. Discussions on delivery mechanisms for peace education favored radio, training workshops, seminars and written media but not production of video.
Meeting with the UN Special Mission for Afghanistan (UNSMA)
On February 23, 2001 Professor Galtung met with Mr. Fransesc Vendrel, chair of UNSMA and Special Envoy of the UN-Secretary General in Islamabad. Mr. Vendrel expressed satisfaction with the workshop and asked to be kept informed of follow-up activities. On February 26, 2001 Dr. Seddiq Weera and Dr. Graeme MacQueen met with Mr. Thomas Ruttig, Political Affairs Officer at UNSMA. Mr. Ruttig expressed interest in coordination and cooperation in the future projects of McMaster's Centre for Peace Studies in Afghanistan.
Meetings in Rome, Italy (March 3, 2001)
Several meetings took place with the Executive of the Rome Peace Process. During the course of the project several meetings took place with Dr. Zulmai Rassoul, Private Secretary to His Majesty the former King of Afghanistan, with His Excellency Prince Mustapha Zahir, Private Advisor to His Majesty, and with other senior members of the group such as former cabinet Minister Mr. Azizullah Wasifi. On each occasion representatives of the king were updated on the McMaster/TRANSCEND peace education project, which was greeted with support and encouragement. Specific input from workshop participants with respect to the Rome Process was discussed and written recommendations by McMaster team members were submitted to the group. Representatives of the former king unanimously supported McMaster University's effort to prepare the minds of Afghans for a peaceful future and to conduct a national consultation.
Direct results of the training, in the changing of views, positions and attitudes, was reported immediately by some participants of workshops. A change in discourse from blaming certain neighboring countries to recognizing legitimate concerns and interests of all neighbors became obvious. Recognition of the cycle of oppression and violence was a significant self-reported insight of participants.
Whether or not the workshops had an indirect impact on peace negotiations, through participation of some of the trainees in official peace conferences and talks in Peshawar (October 2001), Cyprus (November 2001) and Bonn (December 2001), could be qualitatively determined but this has not been done to date. It would require additional resources. Similar impacts on the senior Afghan dignitaries who, at their request, attended a private session on mediation could, in theory, be measured as well, but this has not been done. These individuals had been involved in mediations among warring factions for ten years prior to the February 2001 workshops. Many of these individuals were members of the Peshawar and Cyprus Peace Processes. Subsequent to the release of the mid-term project report with specific recommendations from workshop participants on the role of UN, approaches were adopted by the UN-Special Mission for Afghanistan that were compatible with project recommendations. Whether the project, its personnel or its report had an influence on UN approaches would need to be investigated.
Participants of peace education workshops run for political leaders, the humanitarian aid community, UN personnel, groups of women, and human rights activists reported an impact on their views and attitudes. See Appendix for examples of participants' comments.
Variances between expected and achieved results (both sets of activities)
(a) Originally, nine storybooks were planned; however, the determination of the project team to address all identified themes led to production of 16 books.
(b) Due to a request from field partners the conflict transformation and reconciliation workshops were held prior to the planned dates.
(c) The BBC withdrew from the process. The BBC education team remained helpful, however, by sharing its experience of storybook production and providing us with useful suggestions on the first draft of the stories and peace manual. A number of agencies expressed interest in helping with completion, field-testing and final use. Care-Afghanistan and Sanayee Institute for Education and Learning were chosen as additional partners to help with completion, dissemination and utilization of the peace documents.
(d) The Peace Journalism workshop was reduced to half a day due to a conflict with another major event in the city of Peshawar. A number of journalists and writers approached the organizing team with an interest in similar training and were unhappy about the short time given to such an important training.
Indicators of success
Further resources would be required to evaluate scientifically the attitude changes and institutional impacts resulting from project activities. What follows is simply a summary of the concrete outputs achieved, and yet to be achieved, in the fulfillment of project objectives.
The Appendix at the end of this report gives examples of feedback received from project workshops. Further detail is available on request.
| Objectives | Results to Date | Remaining Work |
| To develop a peace education curriculum, including materials for teachers and for ages 10-15 Afghan school children | Key themes identified by field partners. Key ideas developed by team. Key ideas tested in workshops in field. Feedback from participants gathered and changes made as appropriate. English version of Peace Manual completed. Translation into Pashto and Dari completed. |
Typing of first chapters into Pashto and Dari completed. Finish typing into Pashto and Dari. Edit and proofread. Field test. Produce 200 copies. Put final version on internet. |
| To develop nine storybooks for Afghan children with clear peace and reconciliation messages. | Key themes identified in field. First draft of 16 stories produced by writing team. Draft reviewed by experts in field for cultural appropriateness. Final English text for all 16 storybooks completed. Translation of over half the stories into Pashto completed. Sketches of the illustrations for the first book completed. Field partnerships for field-testing, distribution and final use formalized. |
Finish translation. Finish typing into Pashto and Dari. Commission remaining sketches and illustrations. Proofread and do final edit. Field test. Finish illustrations. Make final revisions. Produce 16,000 copies. Put English versions of final stories on internet. |
| To provide workshops in conflict transformation and peace journalism for Afghan leaders, intellectuals, writers and journalists; and to advocate peaceful resolution of conflicts in meetings with key groups and individuals. | Workshop in Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation offered Feb. 19-22, 2001 in Peshawar attended by 100 Afghan intellectuals, political leaders, university professors, community leaders, NGO-representatives and writers.Daylong workshop on the contribution of NGOs to peace- building offered Feb. 24, 2001 in Peshawar and attended by 32 individuals from 25 organizations.
|
None for this project. We are continuing the work in a new CIDA-funded project. |
| To strengthen capacities of organizations working for peace in Afghanistan. |
See discussion under workshops and meetings above. | None for this project. We are continuing this work in a new CIDA-funded project. |
| To develop a psychosocial model of peace education and conflict transformation, to document its impact and to disseminate the results. | Qualitative feedback about project activities documented. Training given by Dr. Weera in March 1999 and fall of 2000 during the development of this model followed by seminars and workshops on February 16 and 27, 2001 in Peshawar. Participants were groups of 21 female teachers from Society of Afghan Women (led by Ms. Gailani) and 17 men and women from 8 NGOs (CPAU, ACBAR, Afghan's Muslim Women Organization, Sanayee Institute of Education and Learning, Cooperation Center for Afghanistan, Agency for Rehabilitation and Energy Conservation in Afghanistan, Afghan Development Agency, DACAAR). Feedback from participants was extremely positive. | Field-testing and dissemination of storybooks and Peace Manual will be important steps in accomplishing this objective.
Other steps necessary: |
Direct and indirect beneficiaries
Persons directly benefited by this project include over 90 intellectuals, university professors, political leaders and NGO managers, 15 women in leadership capacities, 21 female teachers, 17 men and 8 women from NGOs and five NGO personnel from a minority ethnic group in Afghanistan.
Persons who benefited indirectly are personnel of the NGOs, social and political groups as well as the people of Afghanistan through contribution of this project to the work of the UN special envoy and the peace processes including Bonn peace talks in late November.
A large group of direct and indirect beneficiaries, including children, their parents and teachers, will be added once the stories and peace manual are completed, published and distributed by the end of 2002.
Assumptions
Underestimation of the funds and time required for parts this project led to frustrations and a delay in completing the final products. Although production of a higher number of stories than planned, as well as a peace manual, went very smoothly, the translation and illustrations required far more time and resources than the project team had thought. It turned out that translation of material dealing with psychosocial issues was not easy even for Afghan writers fluent in English. Finding a competent illustrator familiar with the Afghan context and culture was another challenge. With the help of local Afghan community in Canada a senior Afghan artist now living in Canada was located. However, the cost of artwork in Canada is many times higher that in Pakistan and Afghanistan and the artwork put a serious strain on the budget.
Changes in field-partners did not affect progress of the project. As BBC withdrew, there were already a number of NGOs that wanted to be part of field-testing, production and utilization.
Unanticipated changes included a request by the UN officials for Afghanistan to meet with the McMaster-TRANSCEND team, which caused a shortening of the peace journalism training.
A delicate situation arose during the Peshawar workshops, and the project team had to act quickly to address the issues without allowing serious interruption of the flow of activities. During the lunch break of the first day of the five-day workshop in February 2001 the workshop organizers heard that the Taliban regarded the seating at the workshop (men and women sitting and speaking together at the same table) as un-Islamic. The McMaster-TRANSCEND team decided after consultations to make changes that would save the event from possible disruption. Women were seated together at a single table. This was, beyond doubt, a compromise; yet the women remained part of the larger discussion group, remained very vocal, and continued to interact with the rest of the participants.
The development of events in Afghanistan during the extension period of the project (September-December, 2001) was, of course, of major significance for everyone working in Afghanistan. These events could not have been predicted, nor does anyone yet know what the long-term results of the military conflict will be. The workshops we delivered predated the events of the fall, however, and the delivery of the literature we are completing will postdate the events of the fall. Currently, we believe conditions in the country will permit the distribution of our literature, and we hope that the situation in the country will be suitable for further peace work.
Risks
We greatly reduced risks to the Canadian team by deciding, on the advice of the Canadian government, to stay outside of Afghanistan proper. Peshawar was the location of most of the work. Beyond this, Dr. Weera spent considerable time in Pakistan working with the Afghan University and other institutions to procure the support and participation of all major Afghan factions. For example, the Taliban, although they declined to attend (except for one brief appearance), were invited to the Peshawar peacebuilding workshops. Also, our work was known to Pakistani officials. Our policy was that we would work openly, with no secrets, apologies or sectarian affiliations. Risks to partners and participants were reduced through the same strategy: meetings were open, lists of invitees were decided on through wide consultation. When the Taliban made known their views about the workshops, discussion and compromise removed the ensuing tensions.
Gender
Participation of women in the Peshawar workshops certainly did not meet our initial aims (we aimed for 50% female participants and ended up with 15%), but it was substantial. Women participating in the workshops were vocal: they actively contributed to discussions and on many occasions came up with the most constructive ideas. Moreover, gender was the subject of explicit and public discussion at the workshops. Participation of women was ensured through two strategies: First, the Dean of Female Medical Faculty was included in the organizing team of the workshop. Second, we worked directly with the Afghanistan Women's Council and the Sayda-Um-Salama Girls Education Center. Third, cooperating NGOs had women among their representatives. See also the following comments under "Children."
Children
The main benefits of the project for children remain to be realized. These benefits will follow the production, distribution and use of the storybooks and the manual. While great care was taken in the writing of the stories to honour traditional Afghan values (a scholar from Care-Afghanistan asked to review the materials wrote: "Contents of the storybooks and the peace manual comply with the principles of Islam and Afghan traditions"), efforts were made to create positive and central roles for females--both children and women.
The sixteen stories cover the life of a typical extended Afghan family with rural origins but including urban members. The key characters of the family are the children and youth, female and male, who are repeatedly enlightened by the love and wisdom of their grandmother. This family has been affected by mine explosions, destruction in their village, and forced displacement to a city where they have to live for a time in a camp for Internally Displaced People (IDPs). The family learns how best to cope with the hardships, provide love and support to each other and learn to resolve conflict peacefully.
Environment
The project had no significant effect on the environment.
2.4 Relevance/Appropriateness/Stabilization:
We were told repeatedly by Afghans, both in formal feedback after the workshops and informally on other occasions, that the work of this project was relevant to the situation of Afghans-indeed, that it needed to be greatly extended. We took care to build relationships with individuals, groups and institutions that would be the basis of long term cooperation, and we are currently deepening these relationships in our CIDA-funded project on building peaceful societies.
2.5 Timeframe:
One of the main delays in the project time line was shortage of funds to complete illustrations and field-testing of the peace documents. As explained earlier, we underestimated how difficult and time-consuming certain aspects of book production (especially translation and illustration) would be. The McMaster team put efforts into raising funds for the project from July 2001 to the present. The decision of the Peace-building Unit, CIDA to extend the deadline of the project from August 2001 to December 2001 was of crucial help to us, as was the generosity of Physicians for Global Survival in providing us with $27,000. But the pace of the work during the extension period was slowed considerably by the international situation. Members of the project team were called upon dozens of times for commentary and information by citizens' groups, academic institutions and media during the armed conflict with al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
2.6 Coordination:
Coordination with the NGO community, peace education NGOs and social groups in the field took place through consultation meetings and participation in the organization of training events. Separate training and consultation sessions were arranged for representatives of three peace education NGOs, namely Cooperation for Afghan Peace and Unity, Research and Advisory Council of Afghanistan, and Sanayee Institute for Education and Learning (now called Sanayee Development Foundation). Potential collaborative initiatives were discussed with the above organizations.
Since we are a university-based Centre we generally like to have a university or university-based unit as coordinating partner. The Afghan University in Peshawar filled this role and carried out its work superbly. The organization and planning of the Peshawar workshops was highly professional, and the McMaster and TRANSCEND members felt listened to, challenged and honoured.
Coordination with other stakeholders included information sharing meetings with the United National Special Envoy for Afghanistan, the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad, the Rome Peace Process, the Peshawar Peace Process and the Cyprus Peace group.
2.7 Sustainability:
Every effort was made during this project to ensure the participation of indigenous Afghan peace groups in the Peshawar workshops and to train, legitimize and hand responsibility to those groups as appropriate. Many of the members of these groups (we are thinking especially of CPAU, RACA and SIEAL) are young, and they sometimes need assistance in gaining both expertise and credibility. Our current CIDA-funded project will involve these organizations even more deeply, so that the task of building peace in Afghanistan will increasingly rely on the skills and dedication of Afghans.
This project is only the beginning of what will need to be a long process of peace education if we are to expect attitude and behavioral changes with a sizable impact on the prevention of violent conflicts. Long term work is required that will benefit increasingly large numbers of key Afghans, who will then become peace educators. An important follow-up is the 18-month, CIDA-funded "Building Peaceful Societies" project started in February 1, 2002. This project will train peace education leaders from NGOs and academic institutions and produce a range of peace education materials which, together with the peace stories and manual, will assist Afghans to continue to become problem-solvers.
3.0 Lessons Learned:
Project Inception:
A lesson at the inception stage is the importance of need-based, beneficiary-demanded projects. This project was conceptualized not by foreign experts but by key Afghans in dialogue with a member of our team. The idea of the project was initially discussed, and thematically developed, by participants of a week-long peace education workshop in March 2000 at the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan office in Peshawar. To ensure that suggestions by the 15 participants of the workshops reflected important issues for larger groups of Afghans, the themes were then presented to, and discussed with, several groups of Afghans at the Afghanistan Women Council, Council of Cooperation for Afghanistan, the Afghan University in Peshawar and a large number of individuals including Afghan educational experts, former Mujahideen commanders, ordinary Afghans living in Peshawar or visiting Peshawar from villages and towns of the country and prominent Afghan political and intellectual personages. This approach ensured that the project content was relevant to the Afghan context and current challenges. The reception of the work by Afghans has further confirmed this relevance.
Project Institutional Home and Team:
The experience and track record of McMaster University in Afghanistan, including relationships with WHO-Afghanistan, the universities of Herat and Nangarhar and the Organization for Mine Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation, made McMaster a natural home for this project. McMaster's Centre for Peace Studies, with its previous work on the health of children in war zones and its ongoing development of the Peace through Health approach, provided an interdisciplinary team suitable for the work that needed to be done. This team included experts in peace studies, in education, in psychology, and in the mental health of children. It also, crucially, included Dr. Seddiq Weera, an Afghan-Canadian physician and scholar with extensive knowledge of Afghanistan and with a wide array of contacts in Afghanistan and among diaspora Afghans.
Partnership Development:
1. BBC-Education Section:
The BBC's withdrawal from the project was based partly on the fact that they were not able to find the resources to assist in the completion, field-testing and production of 16 storybooks and 150 illustrations. Given the available human resources in Peshawar at that time, they had a more realistic view than we did of the amount of work required to complete this number of stories. We learned a good deal about the amount of time and labour that is involved in this production. Lack of expertise in the area of psychosocial well-being among the BBC group was a concern that surfaced in our team after the BBC reviewed the documents: the learning here is that we should have included training for field partners as one of the objectives. Finally, we should have had further discussions with the BBC about the aim and tone of the stories before the writing began. Their team found some of the stories too "didactic." The concern is a fair one, but the stories are, inevitably, didactic: their purpose is to communicate key facts and ideas to children and their parents.
2. Partnerships for Training Workshops:
The challenge of bringing together representatives of political parties and warring factions in the face of severely damaged trust and a recent history of rivalries was taken up with great competence by the Afghan University, as a neutral educational institution with reputable leadership. According to many participants of the peace education workshops, no other agency would have been able to bring together this combination of 100 politicians, NGO and community leaders. An important lesson learned here is that a careful process of consultation and review is needed before a main field partner is chosen. This, in turn, is possible only if one's team includes people with access to key members and institutions of the community in question. In the present case, Dr. Weera's presence was essential.
In addition, the presence of Dr. Weera in the field two weeks prior to the training events helped with last minute arrangements and modifications in the project plan. It was during this period that NGO representatives asked for a full-day training session for management personnel of Peshawar-based NGOs; and this, in turn, led to the request, from 20 NGO representatives, for further training and material, a request that is being met through the CIDA-funded "Building Peaceful Societies" project.
Success of the Peace Education Workshops: TRANSCEND/McMaster approaches:
A participatory, problem-based, small-group discussion approach transformed the workshops to a combination of training and dialogues. Five groups of 20 to 25 each discussed topics/problems and listened to overviews of topics by TRANSCEND-McMaster trainers. Dr. Galtung's wide knowledge, creativity and decades of experience in a multitude of war zones were essential. Moreover, his credibility with participants overcame what could otherwise have been serious disagreements and differences.
A written evaluation of every day was requested of the participants, and it provided valuable information. Participants were asked to attempt to answer the following simple questions: How useful are you finding the training and discussions? How applicable is this training to the Afghan context? What should be changed and how might the process and usefulness of the sessions be improved?
Appendix
Examples of feedback from project workshops (with minor editing for clarity):
"The McMaster/TRANSCEND training and dialogue can prevent many hostile actions if expanded to all key Afghans." [November 2001, Peshawar, Pakistan].
"We have been trying to use the learning from your (McMaster/TRANSCEND) workshops through our roles in Peshawar and Cyprus peace processes" [two members of the Peshawar and Cyprus processes, November 2001, Peshawar, Pakistan].
"I am finding what you (McMaster/TRANSCEND) are proposing as rehabilitation for Afghan politics; we need it badly and need it now." [a key leader in Peshawar also member of the Rome process, November 2001, Peshawar, Pakistan].
"The type of training you (McMaster/TRANSCEND) have provided in the winter, can prevent Afghanistan from slipping back to the time of ethnic fights and war-lordism" [a member of the Bonn Afghanistan Peace Talks, December 05, 2001 by telephone].
"Your type of training, consultation and dialogues are needed more than ever to reconcile the Afghan divided society and to prevent new conflicts. I see your training of leaders and politicians equivalent of counselling a family to become better parents. When are you going to continue?" [leader of a political party who was represented in Bonn Peace Talks, November 2001, Islamabad, Pakistan].
"If you disappear after a few workshops you and your group will lose credibility in the eyes of Afghans who need consistent assistance. They will see you as a self-interested research group with no serious commitment" [a former cabinet minister who attended the February workshop, November 2001, Peshawar, Pakistan].
"Both national consultation and regional cooperation ideas are timely. I will be happy to help because I know politics of the region and have been working with leaders of the neighbouring countries." [former cabinet minister and a senior member of the Rome group, November 2001, London, England]
"I am so impressed by the scientific approaches your group has developed to bring reconciliation and feel fortunate to see many people care about Afghanistan. It will be my pride to support your work in any way I can." [former cabinet minister, senior member of the Rome Process, November 2001].
"His Majesty knows in full detail about your work and is willing to write a letter of support to the UN peace envoy in Afghanistan or Canadian government, if you wish." [Special Advisor to the former king of Afghanistan, November 2001, Rome, Italy]
"We will be happy to help you with bringing key Afghans together whenever you want them." [November 2001]
For: Feedback from Workshop Participants see Project Overview